Interview with Sarfraz Manzoor

Sarfraz Manzoor is a writer and broadcaster who was installed as the University of Bedfordshire’s chancellor last month. His memoir, Greetings from Bury Park, on growing up in 1980s Luton, was adapted for the 2019 film Blinded by the Light.

Where and when were you born?
I was born at home in a small village, not that far from Lahore in Pakistan, in June 1971. One month before I turned three, me, my mum, my older brother and my older sister came to Britain to join my father. We all moved to Luton because my dad was working at the Vauxhall car factory.

How has this shaped you?
Luton and my childhood made me the person I am – the things that I saw shaped what I thought was possible in my life. My childhood ended up being the material I revisited in my work, and my memoir is almost entirely based around the time that I spent growing up in Luton, and then I made the movie. So Luton was both formative for me as a person but also ended up giving me the subject which I have spent quite a lot of my creative life focusing on.

Your memoir depicts the difficulties of growing up in a working-class, multicultural 1980s Britain. When did you start thinking about going to university, and how was this supported by your family?
I always imagined I would go to university because that was the way I was raised. I was brought up in a very working-class family in terms of the type of job my father did, but there was no understanding or expectation that I was going to be doing anything like them. The whole understanding was that me and my brother – it was somewhat different for my sisters – would end up trying to do better than our parents did. And my parents were from that migrant generation and mentality who believed that education was the engine that helped propel people out of the class and the life in which they had grown up.

Why did you choose to study at the University of Manchester?
My first choice was the London School of Economics because it just sounded super fancy but I didn’t get the grades, so I chose Manchester. And mainly because Ben Elton – of Blackadder, The Young Ones and Friday Night Live – had studied there at the same time as Adrian Edmondson and Rik Mayall, who were all people from that era who I loved. I thought it would be rather cool to study where they had.

Do you have a favourite moment from university?
I mostly recall the gigs I attended, though I remember studying European politics at the same time that the Berlin Wall came down. Our lecturer told us what they had prepared was now completely irrelevant because of what was happening, so they were having to constantly change what they were teaching. And Margaret Thatcher resigned during the time that I was at university. So I remember feeling that this was an incredibly exciting time to be studying politics because the world was actually shifting and changing.

Luton Town will join the Premier League for the first time this season. Do you hope this spotlight will lead to a revision of Luton’s merits?
I’m not a huge football fan, but I think the story of the club is an interesting metaphor for resilience and for the fact that you can be an underdog and surprise people. The reason that the town gets the reputation it does is really deep-rooted and historical – it’s the kind of place which has had that reputation for decades. The rise of certain forms of religious and political extremism in the past has tarnished Luton’s reputation. Anything we can do to help add a bit of nuance and balance is a good thing. The story of the football club may help that, and I’m hoping – in some small way – me being installed as chancellor can help as well.

Tell us about someone you admire?
I admire my mum. She’ll be 90 this month and she raised four children while my dad was basically just working and therefore fairly absent. She is illiterate but has raised a son who had made his living writing in the English language and so, in a way, I feel like my mum was the secret reason why we’ve all done what we’ve done, and she did it all without complaint. The tragic thing is that she now has Alzheimer’s and therefore isn’t really able to understand or appreciate anything that her children have done. And so I admire her because her life has been one of service and sacrifice, and she never really got the rewards that she deserved in her own life. But I hope that in some ways the fact that all her children have gone on to do meaningful things means that there is some part of her which understands that she had a life well lived.

Why did you take the chancellor’s role at the University of Bedfordshire?
Having grown up in the town, having walked past the university and having spent many, many hours wandering through The Arndale (now known as The Mall), the idea that I could have a role as chancellor of that university just felt really meaningful. What I’m hoping really is to just be someone who can remind people that you can come from a very, very humble background and make a fairly interesting and meaningful life for yourself through educational opportunities – and a bit of luck! In terms of what I can offer, I’ll be discussing with the university about what I can contribute – whether it’s doing masterclasses, bringing in special guests or doing some kind of drop-in sessions where I can talk to students and give advice, but that’s all to be confirmed. But I’m really happy to help in any way I can to try and give something back to the town that’s given me so much.

jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com

CV

1989-92 BA in economics and politics, University of Manchester
1996-2003 ITN, including as producer and reporter at Channel 4 News
2003-04 deputy commissioning editor, Channel 4
2004-present regular contributor to The Guardian, The Times and BBC Radio 4
2007 Greetings from Bury Park: Race, Religion and Rock ’n’ Roll
2019 Blinded by the Light (co-wrote screenplay)
2021 They, or They: What Muslims and Non-Muslims Get Wrong About Each Other

Appointments

Ray Jayawardhana is joining Johns Hopkins University as provost. The Sri Lankan astrophysicist, currently dean of Cornell University’s College of Arts and Sciences, will take on the role in October, replacing Sunil Kumar, who is now president of Tufts University. Prior to joining Cornell in 2018, Professor Jayawardhana was dean of science at York University and professor of astronomy at the University of Toronto. Ron Daniels, Johns Hopkins’ president, hailed Professor Jayawardhana as “a visionary and collaborative leader”.

Mildred García will be the next chancellor of California State University, becoming the first Latina to hold the post. The serving president of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities was previously president of CSU’s Fullerton and Dominguez Hills campuses. She said she was “honoured, humbled and excited for this opportunity to serve the nation’s largest four-year university system”.

David Mba has been appointed vice-chancellor of Birmingham City University. Currently deputy vice-chancellor for research, knowledge exchange and enterprise at the University of the Arts London, he will succeed Philip Plowden on his retirement in October.

James Williams, currently managing director of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, has been named director of the Royal College of Music.

Kerri-Lee Krause will be the next vice-chancellor of Avondale University in Australia. She has held the position on an interim basis since April, having been the institution’s provost and senior deputy vice-chancellor.

Newcastle University has appointed Dennis Wong, previously deputy provost of Heriot-Watt University Malaysia, as provost and group chief executive of its Malaysia and Singapore campuses. Newcastle has also hired Vishi Nadarajah, deputy vice-chancellor of Kuala Lumpur’s International Medical University, as vice-provost and chief executive of its Malaysian medical school.